Please Check if my University List is Realistic

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hello Guys. I study in a CBSE school. Please tell me if the colleges I’m applying to suit my stats, given my messed up 11th.
Suggest for few safeties for CS major given my stats

Intended major: Computer Science/Software Engineering(nothing else. No undecided either)
I do not need financial aid or scholarships to pay.

Colleges:
DREAM ==>
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS- URBANA CHAMPAIGN
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA- TWIN CITIES

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS-AMHERST

MATCH===>
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS- CHICAGO
SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

SAFETY===>
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH- SALT LAKE CITY

SUNY BUFFALO

11&12 subjects- Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, English.
9th CGPA-8.8, 10th CGPA-9.4, 11th-75%(Computer Science-92%) 12th predicted-85%
NEW SAT-1440/1600(Math-800, Reading-330, Writing-330)

Student Council President (in senior year. organised homecoming, inter-school cultural competitions, etc. raised 8000 USD for an inter-school city level competition by getting sponsors)

CSI programming contest National Finalist(Top 10 in the country make it to the finals)

Wrote the software my high school now uses for conducting student council election (this was after I was elected president. So i didn’t rig it :P)

Set up and managed a website for my school MUN registrations and resources.

Android developer. Made simple bluetooth controller apps for all my robotics projects too.

Beginner Unity developer

Can code in C++(2 years High school course)
Java & C#(Self learnt)

Will I get into at least a few of the universities for CS? I know I fall into the middle 50% for most of these universities? But since CS is too competitive, I’m having second thought. Is this list okay? Or should I aim less? Or higher? :stuck_out_tongue:

Thank you very much guys

2

Will you retake the SAT? The 33° in reading and writing augur poorly of your ability to comprehend your classes and generally do well. Also, you’ll need to take the TOEFL. Focus on that before you apply elsewhere.

UIUC is going to be really tough, but why not include it as a super-reach?
Add UWisconsin in your reaches alongside UMN and UMass.

SJSU and NCSU make sense, but why UIC? It’s a commuter school that isn’t especially known for CS.
You could replace it with UAlabama Engineering/CS and WPI.

Safeties: perhaps add Missouri U of Science and Technology.

U Utah would be difficult culturally for an international student unless you’re LDS. While many LDS students know the rest of the world through their missions, which is a plus for internationals, they also have a very specific, “traditional”, Christian culture that’s very different from most American youth.

3

@MYOS1634 Thank you very much. I’m taking the TOEFL.
Isn’t 33/40 above the 50th% for most of these schools? Will it still hurt my chances? I’m taking SAT this October. Trying to up it.

I figured Chicago would be a great place to get internships. I chose it due to it’s proximity to a good tech hub.
It was ranked as the 26th most innovative CS program in the states. I read good stuff about it in the internet.

I found the U Utah CS course with emphasis in Entertainment and Arts really amazing. The Electives interested me alot I felt that game development courses would be add to my career goals. Not sure of it’s reputation though. Also I heard that Salt Lake City is a growing tech hub and has a lot startups.

I chose NCSU for pretty much the same reasons. Game development emphasis and Raleigh. SJSU for the valley.
Iowa State cuz of friends there. Heard really great stuff about the CS program there, although it isn’t highly ranked.
SUNY buffalo, as a back up.

Any thoughts?

Being in a good computer related start up scene is very important to me. I believe the most valuable thing I would get out of these 4 years in the US, would be networks. So unless I get a top CS program, or one with proximity, I’d probably not spend that much money and study in the US.
So if you know any CS program that’s close to tech hubs, or get you internships a lot, and is possible with my status, please suggest. Also include reasons why it’s great. Thanks

4

@MYOS1634 What about Virginia Tech CS program? Do i have a shot?

5

Yes you do. Vtech and NCSU are good matches - your odds are 50-50, perhaps a bit more.
Your scores aren’t bad but you need to keep expectations in check for some of the universities. You’re qualified for most of them but CS is so competitive…

Sjsu is easy : they multiply your GPA x sat score, and either that score meets the index, or it doesn’t: you can calculate it. You can also add humanities honors to be in more stimulating discussions (and fewer gen ed classes - 6 honors count for 8 regular gen eds.) it’s a low match for you.
Same thing for UAlabama. You meet the criteria for a partial scholarship from the college of engineering, so it’s a safety.
For Chicago, both Illinois Institute of Technology And Lake Forest, not to mention DePaul and Loyola, would be better than UIC.
If you want a good start up scene, look at Western Washington (match for CS), University of Puget Sound (low match.)
Austin, Dallas, St Louis Missouri are all possibilities for start up environments.
You could apply to UT Dallas Collegium V.
Good thinking on Utah CS… Academically I understand what you mean. If it’s one of only two choices, post again on your thread (don’t forget to update your thread with results.)
I don’t think you need Suny buffalo, especially if you apply to uAlabama and utd.

6

I think I have similar stats. But financial aid is a major factor, as I cannot attend without it. So, I have avoided public universities. I don’t think my list is good enough. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Intended major: Computer Science

My school list:

REACH:
Brown, Cornell, Vanderbilt (thinking of removing all three)
Rice

MATCH:
Illinois Tech
Drexel
NCSU

SAFETY:
U Alabama /Huntsville
Iowa State
UT Dallas
U Cincinnati
CSU Northridge

I’m in an ISC school, Science stream.
9th - 80-85%
10th - 95%
11th - 85% (compared to class average of 55%)
12th - 95%+ predicted
Top 2% throughout high school.

New SAT: 1460/1600 (680 CR, 780 M)

Extracurriculars:

  1. Developed games and software, starting in 9th std, in C, Java and Python (all self learnt). For a science fair, made a robot with a wireless camera which sends feed directly to computer screen.
  2. Worked on a tech blog and even made an Android app for it and published it on Amazon app store. [Unfortunately, the blog discontinued and now the app is dead.]
  3. National Cyber Olympiad - good rank everytime I participated. Highest is some 300 internationally. [Could have been higher but NCO follows CBSE syllabus.]
  4. District level under 14 swimming champion in 9th grade. District level participation in tennis and soccer. Multiple school level awards in athletics and soccer.
  5. Guitar: started playing at a young age and was in the school band.
  6. School leadership roles: Led a team of 10 individuals to sell food at the school canteen. The proceeds were used for volunteer work at an old age home. Also, the editor of my class magazine, which was selected to be the best magazine in the school.
7

@mundanewarrior: you need to start your own thread. Posting your post on someone else’s thread is called “hijacking” and is considered rude. :slight_smile: Also, you’ll get more answers.

8

@mundanewarrior Any CSU must be a sure get. When I emailed them about how they calculate the CSU GPA,
this is what

CSU Fresno replied:

60-100% A
50-59% B
35-49% C
0-34% F

With that scale, you’d get an 4.0 GPA. And you’re eligibility index would be 4660. That would pretty much guarantee any major at any CSU you want. So check that out.

Isn’t Drexel University 70k per year? Would that be affordable?

And check out UT Arlington. You’d get $8000 per year scholarship. BUT, you’ll also get instate tuition bringing your tuition down to about $1000 dollars a year. You’ll only have to worry about room and board. Same with UT Dallas.

9

@MYOS1634 Sorry. I’m new to CC. I will start my own thread.

@wolfwing123 Did you ask if it’s for all CSUs?

Drexel has the co-op program. And I am not completely sure about it, but according to College Board, they give a lot of aid to international students. Come to think of it, the average aid is pretty less (16k). I guess I should remove it from my list.
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-university-search/drexel-university

And are you sure I will get the same aid at UT Dallas as UT Arlington? Because it is a considerable amount.

10

@mundanewarrior
If you’re SAT-redisgned score is above 1470(Reading+writing+Math. Not just reading+math) you’ll probably get full tuition as scholarship. You’ll only have to pay for room & board. I’m not sure if it’s guaranteed, but if you apply early you’ll get it.
http://aes.utdallas.edu/prospective-freshmen/awards
Right now, you’ll get $6000 a year at UT-Dallas. And in-state tuition. So you’d have to pay $6000 for tuition. And more for room&board. Around 20k per year I’d say.

At UT-Arlington, you’d get $8000 a year for sure. Required SAT is 1300. You’d have to pay $1500 for tuition. And more for room&board. Around 15k per year.

What you gotta see is, although the amount of scholarship they give seems low on paper, it’s true value is much higher for OOS students. If you get a any scholarship above $1000 from a UT, you qualify for In-state tuition. Meaning the total amount you save is that $1000+$21000(difference between OOS & IS. approx).
That’s a huge savings for anybody. So apply to both UTD & UTA.

*I’ve just approximated and rounded all the figures. I apologise for any inaccuracies.

11

@mundanewarrior
COOP programs aren’t all sunshine from what I heard. Sometimes, if you end up not getting a intern, you might have to attend the university for an extra semester. And given that it’s 70k, that’d be a huge risk for anyone who’s parents aren’t millionaires.

12

There are excellent co-op programs at UCincinnati, which pioneered the practice. Merit scholarship deadline is December 1st.

13

@MYOS1634
Any idea what stats we’d need to get 100% tuition scholarship at UCincinnati??
Thank you so much for suggesting those universities. I wasn’t aware for UTD & UAH’s scholarships before that. I’m now applying to UA, UAH & UTD.

14

@wolfwing123 Yeah, I know. I saw the page. But I was not sure if it has to be strictly 1470+. Anyway, yes, I do realise that the OOS difference is a huge amount and I’ll apply to both.

@MYOS1634 Please reply to my thread. And yes, I would like to know about UCincinnati full ride too.

15

I think a 1470 would help :slight_smile: but a good application overall is needed :slight_smile:

16

Hi, I am applying from India. I scored really badly on my half yearly exams due to SAT prep. So is it possible to send in my first pre boards marksheet instead of my half yearly marksheet?

17

American colleges don’t care about intermediate marksheets, they want your IGCSE/O’Level/Standard X board official results, any AS level results and A-level prediction or Standard XII board predictions.

18

@maahibaj
Contact the universities you’re applying to. I contacted all the universities I’m applying to, and none of them need 12th grade scores. They only want your Standard X marksheet sent by the board. Send in your in 9th and 11th as they’re important too. Most universities said, they make decisions based on 10th & 11th. Some said 9,10 & 11. Nobody even asked for predicted 12th let alone 12th mid year. Predicted scores are also not necessary.
They know some schools deflate 12th grade scores to prepare them for boards.

But if you apply Early Action and get deferred, you might have to send in 12th mid year or predicted.